Managing the Editing Function on Large Publication Tasks with Short Flow Times.

Santa, Terry M. Dalla

Large publication tasks with short flow times require that several editors be assigned to work together as part of a larger publication team that includes management, engineer-writers, publishing logistics personnel, word processor operators, illustrators, and printers. Team-edited publications have special problems, and the technical editing and writing staff at Boeing Aerospace Company has devised a set of formalized procedures for handling the problems that arise in the preparing of new-business proposal documents, contract reports, and many other technical documents. The procedures include (1) establishing editing standards, (2) having complete and realistic schedules, (3) preparing concise and complete written instructions, (4) creating manageable work packages, (5) having continuous job-status visibility, (6) using good quality-assurance disciplines, and (7) establishing esprit de corps. The job can be completed without such formalized procedures, but the process will be more traumatic and more expensive, and the published documents are more likely to be disorganized, incomplete, and inconsistent. (Author/FL)